Friday, May 02, 2014

My Weekend Crush

I really like Emma Stone. I mean, I saw “Easy A,” like everyone else. How can you not like her? And each time she is on a talk show she is beyond dependably charming. Whether she is dancing behind someone’s back for Ellen or lip sync battling with Fallon, she never fails to deliver. The gal is good. Funny, endearing, quick on her feet. And she is an A+ eye crosser. But here’s the thing. She also makes me a little disappointed. Not in her, for all those reasons I have already enumerated and more. I’m disappointed because since her big breakouts with “Easy A” and “The Help,” she has mainly been relegated to one role: superhero girlfriend.

And therein lies the rub. Once an actress finally makes it to a certain level of fame there are only a few real roles open to her unless she managed to make it all the way to the very top. And those roles are girlfriend, love interest, romantic foil, etc. She’s Spider-Man’s girlfriend in those (cough, completely unnecessary, cough) reboots of the webslinger franchise. And in her next three movies, it is pretty much more of the same. She is the lady standing beside the leading man. In Woody Allen’s new film “Magic In the Moonlight,” she plays the leading lady for Colin Firth. In the new Cameron Crowe film she plays the leading lady to Bradley Cooper. And in “Birdman,” she plays the daughter to Michael Keaton (who, continuing the trend, plays an actor who used to play a superhero – which admittedly is not a stretch for him).

With a comedic actress this skilled, it seems inconceivable no one has created another vehicle for her. But, once again, there sadly appears to be a gap between what should be available and what is available to a talented young actress like Emma. Of course, I could be wrong. Emma could be turning down star vehicle after star vehicle for some unknown reason. And here’s hoping I am and Emma snaps one of those roles up right quick. Because I know we all want to see her in one. Happy weekend, all.

p.s. Here’s that lip synching by the way. You just knew her rap game would be strong too, yo.

p.p.s. I also hate that those stupid Spidey films made her a blonde. Long live the red.